Written by: Muhammad Yazid

After Woodlands Wellington ended their StarHub League Cup campaign following a 3-1 loss to Brunei DPMM in the quarter-final, Woodlands coach Salim Moin was furnished with mixed emotions.

The gaffer was evidently disappointed with the exit, and more so with his side’s defending.

“I have been reminding my players about DPMM’s threat in crossing,” he added.

“If we were faster in closing down the crosses, we would not have lost the game and could have held it at 1-0.

“The first goal we conceded was the setback, where we lost our focus thereafter.

“My players who were marking the near post should have marked the area outside the goal, not inside.”

Despite the defeat, Salim did have compliments for his charges.

“We played well for most of the game, till the 80th minute,” he expressed.

“We did well in clearing the crosses that came in our way and covered our areas well in the first half.

“Even when we lost control of the game and were trailing 2-1, we went in search of an equaliser.”

However, the former national midfielder then shared with the media his preference for ‘simple football’.

“I am not faulting anybody because everyone did their best but they should start showing good concentration because lapses in it will punish us,” Salim explained

“My players should start looking at the different possibilities when they are with the ball. To avoid losing it easily, they should play it simply

“Do not force play. It does not matter even if they make a short pass if they are not confident. It is better than playing a long ball which gets stolen. That way, weaknesses will get hidden,” he emphasized.

His counterpart, Steve Kean was a relieved man after the final whistle, as he pointed out to the three goals his side scored, and praised his striker Rodrigo Tosi.

“All three goals were crosses and I am certainly pleased with the result,” he mentioned.

“Tosi did very well in both his goals and the crosses by Roberto Alviz were equally as good.

“We normally cross the ball well and that rewarded us with the win tonight. It was pleasing that we got the goals from good service of quality crosses.”

“Once we scored our first goal, we wanted to get it finished before extra time, and thankfully we did.”

The former Blackburn Rovers manager also praised his opponents for the tough fight and was slightly disappointed with the way his side conceded the opener by Chang Jo Yoon.

“Woodlands did very well in the first half. They had their two strikers very wide upfront and that caused us some problems in defence,” he credited.

“We conceded an easy goal and it was bad. We sadly did not deal with a basic cross and a free header.”